The purpose of this blog: to seek, find, and pass along what I believe to be as close as possible to absolute truth. No matter which side of the aisle is offended.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

On Atlantica and Anarchists

I had the day off work yesterday, and I slept in most of the day. I was considering marching with the Atlantica protesters, but am glad I did not. Thursday after work, I stopped by a brick building on Barrington Street where they had a sort of information kiosk, where I picked up some of their literature (they also had free food there, so I took a sliced chicken sandwich). I couldn't help notice that I was the oldest person in the room, and that I have less and less common with them all the time.

I had received a couple of unsolicited posts from Atlantica in recent months, and I can say that they represent much of what I'm against, like totally unfettered free-market liberalism, and the full integration of American and Canadian economies. Then again, globalism seems to be slowing down in recent years, and I was starting to wonder how much longer it can be allowed to expand. With the next economic crisis, economic borders will likely be set up again. Also, there was this splinter group from the main protest group who seems to confirm the worst suspicions of the established order. They were just there to fight, make a mess, draw attention to themselves and get arrested. What's worse, the leader of the mainline protester was too willing to excuse their actions, saying basically that they have a right to protest in any way they choose.

Sorry pal. That's not the way it's supposed to work. Governments are supposed to allow demonstrations to be conducted in a peaceful manner, not that they always do (like in Seattle), but that's the idea. If they do use excessive force, then you gain a moral advantage over them. If you don't conduct it peacefully, then they would be justified in using force, just as they did yesterday. If you organize a protest against Atlantica with some cooler, more mature heads, then I may make a point of marching with you, even at the risk of getting arrested.